She Can Tell
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "There's a reason Haly doesn't usually take trapeze troops anymore." A thin, wan smile is on his face. "I blame Gotham."


**A/N: More "Performance" stuff. Really, this episode made me write almost as much as "Failsafe".**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

**She Can Tell**

Artemis and Robin hung around to watch the rest of the show, and now he's walking at her side. Hilariously enough, they're both still in full uniform and kids are running by, asking for autographs, tugging on their costumes, begging the raven-haired acrobat to do more flips. She poses her question when she knows all of the children have been ushered off to their cars, trying to go home. "So, how long did you live here?" she asks as they leave the big top for the final time, heading back to the train car to pack up their things. Conner and M'gann are already there while Roy works with Interpol to tie up loose ends.

His stature grows stiff for a moment before he forces his muscles to relax again. "What do you mean?" he asks with a half-laugh. "I never lived in Europe. My home is in Gotham."

"Before Gotham," she continues, untying her mask and loosing her hair from even the most minimal bondage. "You were in a circus. _This_ circus." Her blue-grey gaze finds him as his shoulders sink slightly. The girl smirks, victory smeared across her pretty features.

"Is it that obvious?" he asks pitifully, eyes dim and tired through the mask.

She runs a hand through her Rapunzel-like locks very carefully, trying to tug out knots. "I'm more observant than the others." A half-moon smile touches her features. "So I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that knows." When she sees his head tip back and one hand touch his ebony hair, she knows she's probably said the wrong thing. Artemis knows he's got some dark secret, but she won't prod into that. Hey, it was a simple enough question; the way she sees it, it warrants a just as simple answer. "Why did you leave it?"

There's something in his posture, the way any semblance of a smile fades from his face, and how his motions become twitchy and uncomfortable that tells her she's hit a touchy subject. So maybe the Dark Knight's little bird has a soft spot, a weakness. Not that she was looking for one, more so that she thought they were indestructible. Now she knows. "There was no reason for me to stay."

"But you love it here," Artemis argues, jabbing an accusing finger at him whilst continuing with, "And don't you dare lie to me, Robin. If you saw yourself up on that trapeze and just running around the train, you'd realize how much you really love it here. How could there ever leave a place that makes you happy?"

He tries to subtly put more space between them. There are so many ways he could answer: spill the secret, give her more context, explain the pain that being here caused, tell her how much it hurt to be on the trapeze, let her know how _terrified_ he was when he was falling. "There were… family problems." Surely she could understand that…

"Didn't you live here with…" She's cut off by the most heartbroken look in his eyes, the way his face seems so shattered. Artemis can't find words anymore because she's never seen the child look so _lost_. And it physically hurts her to see him crumbling.

"I did." His response is curt, quiet. "Now I don't live with them at all."

Okay, she really has no response for that one. Her mind is stumbling over things like divorce or child services taking him away from his parents. Then again, the circus… Maybe he wasn't getting the proper education? Still, wouldn't his parents be here? Wouldn't he have met up with them? Or maybe…

That one. Definitely that one.

"I'm sorry." Her voice is barely a breath. "I shouldn't have-"

Robin cuts her off, waving a hand in her direction. "It's fine," he mutters. "I'm used to it. Not like it'll go away. Things won't change, I just have to make the best of it. That's why I get to be who I am today. Four years later, I think I'm doing alright, you know?" He forces a laugh, but it sounds choked. "I made the best of a bad situation."

Now she feels like she's choked up, the pit of her stomach aching for him, her face twisted into something that could only be sympathy. "You don't have to tell me this stuff. I just… I'm sorry…" There are no words to express how bad she feels for bringing these things back to the surface for him.

"Now you know," he says, looking to her with a false smile after realizing they've stopped walking. "It doesn't matter, Artemis. I lived here once, I can't come back. It's not a big deal for me. I'm sad, sure, but I have you guys now. My friends. A different sort of family too, sure, but my life is the way it is, and it can't be changed."

And he's so _optimistic_ about it. Really, she wants to cry for him. He's so young, but he's so _strong_. She's barely making it through her own troubles, and yet he manages to laugh and smile _every single day_…

"Can I ask… one more thing?" she questions, voice cracking a little bit. Because she knows she should keep her mouth shut. She knows she shouldn't be asking this, but when he nods, she can't hold it back. "What happened to them?"

This time, his body language says nothing; his eyes merely avert from her and glance to the stars. "There's a reason Haly doesn't usually take trapeze troops anymore." A thin, wan smile is on his face. "I blame Gotham."

Oh. God. She knows the old story. Jade used to tell it to her all the time, this sick, sad tale of a family of acrobats who fell from the trapeze. Two of them lived, a man, paralyzed for the rest of his life, and a young boy who watched the whole thing hap…

"Come on," he urges softly, gently, voice like wind through an empty ebony night. "We should get back. We have to pack our stuff before the train leaves." The boy takes her hand and pulls her forward, trying to get the archer back in motion.

She does walk. She manages to bite her lip and hold back more questions. She shouldn't pry. She shouldn't have asked. Because now she knows, and it makes her feel sick. Artemis has been through a lot of crap in her life, but watching… No. She'd never be able to do it. How could he live with himself day after day after day while knowing that something so disgusting had done this to him? A normal life was so close, but it'd been stripped away from him so young…

"Do you think Miss M will be alright to fly us back home in the bioship?" he asks, changing the subject like ripping off a band-aid. "She looked a lot better, but her powers were still a little bit out of it. You may be flying us home. Since Conner will be doting on her, I'll be, uh, briefing Batman, and Roy… Roy." He smirks, lightening the mood again although she still aches inside. "Think you can get us all the way across the Atlantic Ocean?"

Artemis knows he's gotten good a coping; she wishes she had the same skill. "Yeah. I can try."

"Hey, just no crash landings, that's all I ask."

It doesn't make her feel any better.

* * *

**A/N: Well, it wasn't going to end like that, but now it did, and either way, I'm really happy with it. So, uh, review?**

**~Sky**


End file.
